Thrifty Tip Friday!

#161 Be on the same page with your spouse/partner. My husband and I have weathered a difficult 8 months. Travis was laid off early in January and just started a new job two weeks ago. We are thrilled that he is working now and were so happy to receive that first paycheck, but things were VERY stressful at times. Our marriage is strong, I'm glad to say. The last 8 months really tested us, but I'm happy to say that we survived and learned some lessons along the way!

Make sure that you and your spouse are both aware of your financial situation. It does no good to hide credit card debt, etc. from your spouse. If he/she doesn't know that you are struggling, how can he/she pitch in to fix the problem? It is also much better to share the burden of money problems with someone you love.

Work together to reach your goals! Try to set small and large financial goals with your spouse. If you are both working toward something as a unified force, you will get there more quickly than just working on your own. For instance, some nights I would be too tired to cook dinner and would want to resort to ordering pizza. Travis would remind me that we weren't in the position to spend our money on fast food and would help me make a quick meal at home for our family. On the other hand, sometimes I would remind him of the same thing. When you are both working toward the same goal, one can steer the other in the right direction along the way!

Now that we have made it through this difficult time, I think it has made us stronger as a couple and more aware that things can go wrong in our lives. We are going to work hard to build up an emergency fund for when life takes another unexpected turn. This way, hopefully, next time won't be so difficult on us financially.